Katie Kocijanski is reporting in The Daily Mail providing medical services to the incarcerated was the topic of discussion at the Greene County Legislature’s latest jail project committee meeting, Wed., May 4. The group heard from retired Ulster County Jail Administrator Brad Ebel. Ebel spoke about his experience opening a new county jail and privatizing medical services at that facility. He is now the vice president of business development for Correctional Medical Care, a private health care company for prisons. Ebel said the cost of medical services at the Ulster County Jail total approximately $2.7 million. Private companies can provide staffing, medical billing, pharmacy and medical supply services. Under its current system, Greene County employs one nurse who works eight hours a day, five days a week. If an individual is seriously ill or injured they are sent to the hospital. Ebel said after the Ulster jail contracted privately for medical services, the number of emergency room visits decreased dramatically. Read the full story in The Daily Mail.

Pat Doxsey is reporting in the Daily Freeman Ulster County Sheriff Paul VanBlarcum could become one of only a handful of sheriffs across the state with the power to issue pistol permits. A bill to that effect has been approved by the state Senate, and a similar bill is under consideration in the Assembly. VanBlarcum said allowing him to sign pistol permits would end a months-long backlog in the issuance of permits by judges. “It’s just a service to the taxpayers here. Right now, you might wait up to a year or more to have a judge sign a pistol permit," he said. At present pistol permits can be issued to Ulster County residents by the judges in County Court, Family Court, Surrogate’s Court and state Supreme Court. City of Kingston judges issue pistol permits to city residents. In a press release announcing the bill’s passage in the state Senate, Sen. John Bonacic called the measure a “common-sense piece of legislation.” Following the mass shooting in San Bernardino, California in December, VanBlarcum made national news when he posted on the Ulster County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page: “In light of recent events that have occurred in the United States and around the world, I want to encourage citizens of Ulster County who are licensed to carry a firearm to PLEASE DO SO.” VanBlarcum, a Democrat, was first elected sheriff in 2006. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.

Matthew Hamilton is reporting at Capitol Confidential Bob Bishop's name will remain on the Republican ballot for the June primary election after surviving a legal challenge to his petitions. Bishop is seeking the GOP line in the November 19th Congressional District race. An Andrew Heaney campaign staffer and two donors sought to invalidate Bishop’s petitions, alleging the nearly 2,000 signatures Bishop collected were the products of fraud. The Bishop campaign announced Wed., May 4, the state Board of Elections ruled against the challenge and validated the petitions. However, nearly 500 of the signatures were thrown out in the process. “Today, the Board of Elections confirmed what I have been saying for the past two weeks, our campaign received well over the number of valid signatures required to qualify for the Republican Primary,” Bishop said in a statement. Heaney and Bishop face John Faso in the Republican primary for the seat currently held by Kinderhook Republican Chris Gibson. Bishop will be a guest on WGXC's "All Together Now!" on Tue., May 10, at 6 p.m.

Governor Andrew Cuomo announced May 4 more than $1 million spending on Cellsense technology to all 54 state prisons to crack down on contraband and weapons. Cellsense devices are used to conduct full-body searches of inmates and screen mail, laundry, mattresses, and other inmate property. They are already installed in 48 of New York State's 54 state prisons, with the remaining facilities to receive them by year's end, and are smaller and more mobile than traditional metal detectors. "This new technology will better detect contraband and serve as a deterrent to illicit activity in New York’s prisons, helping to protect the health and safety of correction officers and inmates," Governor Cuomo said.

Emilia Teasdale reports in The Columbia Paper that the Kinderhook Town Board will leave voters there under-represented, not filling the seat of recently deceased Councilwoman Deb Simonsmeier. “There is no way we can fill her shoes,” said Councilwoman Patsy Leader, although the board could appoint a new member or hold an election. Resident Ed Simonsen praised Simonsmeier’s work for the town during the public comment section of the meeting, but said, “I think the public is served by having a full board,” he said. Read the full story in The Columbia Paper.

Brendan J. Lyons reports in The Albany Times-Union that a Cohoes man told the state attorney general's office May 3 that, in his opinion, a Troy police sergeant was not in danger when the officer killed an unarmed DWI suspect last month. Last week, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman filed a lawsuit against Rensselaer County District Attorney Joel Abelove, for hurrying a grand jury decision on the matter. Abelove, it turns out, did not interview this witness whose account is at odds with the police description of events. Abelove is refusing to say anything on the matter. "I prefer not to comment on pending litigation publicly. I'm not going to try this matter in the media. I do understand that the Attorney General has made a number of comments publicly about his pending litigation. I choose not to do that. I'd rather litigate this as it's supposed to be litigated," said Abelove. Read the full story in The Albany Times-Union.

Governor Andrew Cuomo announced $20 million in grants through the Hudson Valley Agricultural Enhancement Program to help local farmers, although all the grants went locally only to counties east of the Hudson River. Greene, Albany, and Ulster counties were shut out. The grants go to maintain the land’s use for agricultural purposes, protecting more than 5,600 acres of active farmland. Here are the grant totals by county:
Columbia County: $4.16 million (5 projects)
Saratoga County: $3.14 million (7 projects)
Dutchess County: $3.01 million (4 projects)
Orange County: $2.83 million (4 projects)
Rensselaer County: $2.55 million (4 projects)
Westchester County: $1.84 million (1 project)
Washington County: $860,000 (3 projects)

Local weather forecast

Today: A slight chance of showers before 8 a.m., then a slight chance of showers after 9 a.m. Cloudy. High near 54. Thursday night, a chance of showers, mainly after 9 p.m. Cloudy. Low around 46.

FORECAST FOR THE NEXT TWO DAYS
FRIDAY: Rain likely, with thunderstorms also possible after noon. Cloudy. High near 58. Friday night, showers likely, mainly before 2 a.m. Cloudy. Low around 49.
SATURDAY: A chance of showers, mainly before 2 p.m. Mostly cloudy. High near 64. Saturday night, a chance of showers, mainly after 8 p.m. Mostly cloudy. Low around 49.

Sunrise today: 5:43 a.m.
Sunset today: 8 p.m.

LENGTH OF THE DAY: 14:16 hrs.

PUBLIC MEETINGS

Today is the first Thursday of the month.
WGXC suggests calling ahead to confirm time and location.
All numbers are in the 518 area code unless otherwise noted.

ANCRAM Planning Board meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 1416 County Rte. 7, Ancram (329-6512).
ASHLAND Planning Board meeting, 6 p.m. at Town Hall, 12094 Route 23, Ashland (734-3636).
AUSTERLITZ Planning Board meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 812 Route 203, Spencertown (392-3260).
CAIRO Town Board meeting, 6 p.m. at Town Hall, 512 Main St., Cairo (622-3120). CAIRO-DURHAM public hearing on the 2016-17 budget and regular Board of Education meeting, 7 p.m., high school media center, 1301 Route 145, Cairo (622-8543).
COPAKE Planning Board meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 230 Mt. View Road, Copake (329-1234).
COXSACKIE Planning Board meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 16 Reed St., Coxsackie (731-2727).
GHENT Town Board public hearing and special meeting, 6:30 p.m. at Town Hall, 2306 State Route 66, Ghent (392-4644).
HUDSON Mayor's public hearing on proposed local law to establish the R-S-C-2 Zoning District and designate “hotel” as a conditionally permitted use in the southern waterfront area, 4 p.m. at City Hall, 520 Warren St., Hudson (828-1030). KINDERHOOK Zoning Board of Appeals meeting (tentative), 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 4 Church St, Niverville (784-2233).
KINDERHOOK Village Planning Board, 7 p.m. at Village Hall, 6 Chatham St., Kinderhook (758-9882).
STOCKPORT Town Board meeting, 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 2787 Atlantic Ave., Stottville (828-9389).

Click here to play or download an audio version of this report.

Techcrunch reports that just about the only problem with the Periscope app is that the broadcasts are deleted after 24 hours. So on May 4 the company fixed that, as now users can save broadcast by putting a #save in their titles. The app lets anyone with a Twitter account stream video through their cell phones, through a very simple interface. Now the company is developing controls for saving recordings for various periods of time but not forever. Periscope and, through Twitter, its 300 million possible users are trying to compete with 1.6 billion possible broadcasters through Facebook Live.

Photo from Rural Schools Association website.

Click here to download or play an audio version of this report.

David Little, the Executive Director of The Rural Schools Association, discusses the local school budget hearings, and May 17 school budget votes around the region.

Photo from Hudson Democrats website.

Click here to download or play an audio version of this report.

Supervisor William Hughes, Jr., a Democrat representing Hudson's Fourth Ward on the Columbia County Supervisors talked about local news, on "@Issue" at 10 a.m. May 4 with host Victor Mendolia. Mendolia is the former chairman, and current vice chairman of the Hudson City Democratic Committee.

DOWNLOAD or play the audio version of the local headlines and weather for Wed., May 4 (9:57). (Produced by Philip Grant.)